The place was pretty quiet for six on a Friday. She imagined
business would pick up later unless people were tied up in last-minute holiday
activities. She made her way to the empty bar and pulled up a stool. It was from
her perch that she heard the laughter of a group of men in the back corner. When
she turned, Tori quickly amended her plans. She needed two drinks. Especially
with that cocky bastard watching her from the back of the bar.
What was Wade doing here? It was a small town, but wasn’t there
somewhere else he should be? At home with his all-important family, perhaps? But
no, he was throwing back a couple with an odd assortment of old and young men
from around town. She recognized her lawyer, Randy Miller, and the old bald
sheriff from one of the local television advertisements about the dangers of
holiday drinking and driving. There were a couple others there she didn’t
recognize.
And at the moment, every one of them was looking at her.
Had Wade been talking to them about her? The arrogant curl of
his smile and the laughter in the eyes of the other men left no doubt. The
irritation pressed up Tori’s spine until she was sitting bolt upright in her
seat.
She wanted to leave. Not just the bar, but the town. Maybe even
the state. In an hour she could have the trailer hooked up and ready to go. Part
of the beauty of being nomadic was that you could leave whenever things got
uncomfortable. That’s what her parents had always done. Hung around somewhere
until it got boring or awkward and then moved on to someplace else. Tori had
always had trouble imagining living in one community her entire life. There was
no place to go when things blew up in your face.
But there were also advantages to being settled: longtime
friends and neighbors. People you could count on. Stability. Roots. A place to
call home and raise a family. After toying with the idea of having that kind of
life with Ryan and then having it all collapse around her, Tori had decided she
was tired of running. She might not have the life and family she’d dreamed about
with Ryan, but she could have it with someone else if she sat still long enough
to have a meaningful relationship.
Cornwall spoke to her. This was where her family had come from
and this was where she wanted to stay. But if she was going to build her dream
home here, she’d better learn how to tough it out. There was no towing off a
house. Being the new girl in a small town was hard enough. Lacking in coping
skills wasn’t going to help the situation.
If Wade thought he could bully her into selling by turning the
town against her, he was in for a surprise. She wasn’t going to play along with
his charade. If he could play dirty, so could she.
“What can I get you?” The bartender had finally made his way
over to her end of the bar. He looked like the kind of guy you’d find at a
115-year-old bar named the Wet Hen. Thin, leathery and gray-haired with an
ancient, blurry anchor tattooed on his forearm. The tag pinned to his apron said
his name was Skippy. She’d never seen anyone less like a Skippy in her life.
“Gin and tonic with lime.” Strong and to the point without
stooping to shots. She was tempted to just chug a few big gulps of tequila so
she’d no longer care about Wade and his cronies. But she couldn’t lose control
of her inhibitions, either. Lord knew what kind of trouble she’d get into.
Skippy placed a bowl of peanuts and a napkin on the counter for
the drink he quickly poured. He looked as though he had a solid fifty years of
experience mixing drinks. When the lowball glass plopped down in front of her,
she took a large, quick sip. Damned if that wasn’t the best gin and tonic she’d
ever had.
Go Skippy.
The alcohol surged straight into her veins. She’d been too
agitated to eat anything since Wade left, and her empty stomach gladly soaked up
the wicked brew. Three sips into her drink, her worries from earlier had dulled
into distant concerns that could be drowned out, along with the loud bursts of
male laughter coming from the corner. Thank goodness.
It wasn’t until she’d finished her drink and half a bowl of
peanuts that she bothered to look in their direction again. Wade was still
watching her, although this time the amusement on his face was gone. As the
other men around the table chatted, he seemed to have narrowed his focus to her.
The expression on his face was quite serious. And openly appreciative of
whatever he was seeing.
When their gazes met, Tori felt a jolt of electricity that ran
down her spine and prickled across her skin like delicate flames licking at her.
It was almost as though his look caressed her physically and drew her into him.
It was the same feeling she’d had when he touched her today, handing her the
honey jar. Sudden. Unexpected. Powerful.
And totally and completely unwanted.
The clunk of a glass on the bar in front of her startled Tori
out of Wade’s tractor beam. When she turned, she saw a fresh glass, courtesy of
Skippy.
“This one’s on the oldest Eden boy.”
It took Tori a minute to figure out that probably meant Wade.
“You mean the dark-headed one in the green shirt with the smug expression on his
face?”
Skippy leaned onto the bar and turned toward the men in the
back. “Yep.”
“I thought his last name was Mitchell.”
“It is.”
“Then why’d you call him an Eden boy?”
Skippy shrugged. “’Cause that’s what he is.”
Tori frowned. Wade’s family tree seemed to be a touch more
complicated than she’d anticipated. “Tell him I don’t want it.”
Skippy snorted and shook his head. “He’s sitting with the
mayor, the sheriff, the best lawyer in town and the city councilman who granted
my liquor license. Sorry, kiddo, but I’m not getting involved. You’ll have to
tell him that yourself.”
“Fine,” Tori said. The drink was making her feel brave anyway.
Scooping up the full glass, she slid off the stool a little too fluidly and made
her way across the bar to the table of men in the back.
All five of them halted their conversation and turned to look
at her when she approached.
“You’re welcome, Miss Sullivan,” Wade said with a smile that
made her stomach flutter and pissed her off at the same time. He was too cocky
for his own good.
“Actually, I wasn’t coming to thank you. I’m returning it.”
“Is something wrong with the drink?” Wade challenged.
“Nothing aside from it being purchased by you.” She set it down
on the edge of the table in front of him. “No thanks.”
A couple of the men chuckled softly and another shifted
uncomfortably in his seat. Wade ignored them all, his gaze laser-focused on her.
“Oh, come on, now. Don’t be that way. It was a ‘Welcome to Cornwall’ drink. A
taste of some local hospitality.”
“I’ve lived here for two months and only four people have
bothered to speak to me the entire time. It’s a little late for a warm welcome.
Especially coming from the man who’s trying to run me out of town.”
“That’s harsh. You can stay in town. Just not on that
particular spot. Maybe Randy here can help you buy a new place.” Wade slapped
the younger man beside him on the shoulder. “He tells me he handled the sale of
my parents’ property.”
“
My
property,” she emphasized.
“What else did he tell you, Wade? Are there any loopholes you can use to nullify
the sale? Or are you just snooping around town trying to find some dirt on me
you can use for blackmail?”
Wade shrugged casually, and Tori could feel her blood nearly
boil in her veins with anger. “Not everything is about you, Miss Sullivan. I’m
visiting my friends while I’m in town. If they just so happen to have
information about you, then great. I like to be well-informed. Especially when
going up against a worthy adversary.”
“Don’t flatter me. You can dig all you want, but you’re not
going to find any dirt, because I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m not selling
you my property, Mr. Mitchell. And that’s final.” Tori spun on her heel and took
two big steps away before she heard the sound of muffled snickers behind her and
a poorly masked whisper that suggested Wade’s skills in the bedroom might
improve her attitude.
That was the last straw. Snapping her head around, she caught
Wade smirking at her backside as though he agreed with his uncouth companion’s
assessment.
She returned to their table. “I’m sorry, what was that? I can
assure you my attitude was just fine until you started bullying me around. You
may live in a world where you always get your way, but it’s not going to happen
this time. And neither your money nor your penis is going to change that. I’m
not interested in either of them.”
With that, she picked up her drink, watching as Wade assessed
her with curious eyes. He’d had the good sense to shelve the smirk. “On second
thought,” she said with a sickeningly sweet smile, “I think I will take this
drink. You could use a little cooling off.” With a flick of her wrist Tori
emptied the glass into Wade’s lap.
The icy cold drink shocked him upright out of the chair,
sending ice cubes scattering across the floor. Tori turned and walked back to
the bar, ignoring his stream of profanity muffled by his friends’ howls of
laughter. She paid her bill, leaving a nice tip for Skippy, and headed for the
door.
Curiosity was nagging at her, but she wouldn’t allow herself to
turn around and see what Wade was doing. She would give anything to see that
smug look wiped off his face, and she was pretty sure that would do it. But
looking back meant that she cared. She didn’t want to give Wade that
satisfaction. Instead, she marched out the front door and headed to her truck.
She was nearly to the corner of the building when she heard rapid, heavy
footsteps coming up behind her.
“What is your problem?” Wade snarled over her shoulder.
As calmly as she could, Tori turned to look at him. Even with a
tight jaw and an angry red flush tainting his perfect, aristocratic features, he
was the most handsome man she’d ever seen in person. And she hated that that was
her first thought when she looked at him. Those kinds of thoughts weren’t
helpful when dealing with the enemy. And that’s what he was, despite the facade
he put up to play nice and the way her body reacted when he was close by.
Judging by the snarl that had replaced his cajoling smile and
the giant wet spot sprawled across his pants, she was pretty sure he was done
playing nice. And that was fine by her. It would be much easier to deal with
Wade when he wasn’t trying to be charming. It just crossed the wires in her
brain and made her think unproductive thoughts.
“My problem?” Tori said coolly. “I don’t have a problem. You’re
the one who needs something, not me.”
“And dumping a drink in my lap is the solution?”
Now it was Tori’s turn to shrug dismissively, as he had. “It
seemed like a good idea at the time. You all were having too much fun at my
expense. Just because you have drinks with the mayor doesn’t mean you can bully
me.”
Wade narrowed his green gaze at her, slowly stepping forward
until she found herself backed up against the crumbling brick wall of the Hen.
With one hand planted on the wall on each side of her, he’d made sure there was
nowhere for her to go. Tori straightened her spine and looked defiantly at him
as he closed in.
“I never had any intention of bullying you, Miss Sullivan.”
Tori tried not to watch the soft curve of his lips as he spoke
to her, but he was so close she had little choice. She remembered how she’d once
fantasized about kissing those lips. Of course, that was before he turned on her
and threw her out of his company on her rear end. The surge of anger doused the
old memories, and her gaze met his.
“What then?” she asked, her voice laced with sarcasm. “Were you
going to take your friend’s suggestion and seduce me? Certainly you’re so
masterful in the bedroom that one good romp would change my mind, right?”
Wade moved a fraction of an inch closer to her. For a moment
Tori tensed, thinking he might be leaning in to kiss her. She wanted him to, and
she didn’t. She’d probably thoroughly enjoy it and then slap him when it was
over. It was hard to think with him this close. He stopped short of touching his
lips to hers. She could feel his warm breath on her skin.
“I’ve never had a woman offer me real estate after sex, but it
wouldn’t be the first time one of my lovers felt the need to repay me for a
fantastically pleasurable night together.”
Just the words
fantastically
pleasurable
wrought a hard throb of need. She fought the urge to lean
in to him. To discover what it would feel like to have his hard angles pressing
into her soft curves. It had been a long time since she’d even let herself think
of something like that. Not since things blew up with Ryan. She didn’t trust
herself to make the right choices, even with the right kind of man.
And this was the absolute wrong man to light up her libido. He
was too smooth. Too charming and certain of himself. It didn’t matter what he
said or did, for every move he made was a strategic one. But that didn’t mean
her every move couldn’t be a tactical one, as well. He already believed she
could be manipulated through sex, or he never would’ve fired her. Let him think
he was getting to her. Let him think he was winning.
Tori pressed a gentle hand to his chest. Her lips parted in
invitation; a ragged breath of arousal escaped from her lungs. It wasn’t hard to
play along: she just gave in to her impulses. She could feel his heart racing
just as quickly as her own. He was not immune to his own game. They were both
playing with fire.
“What makes you think I want you?” she whispered.
Granting her silent wish, he leaned in and pressed himself
against her. The warmth of his hard body radiated through his clothing. The
salty scent of male skin mingled with pine. Wade let his lips graze, nestling
touches light as feathers along her jaw to her earlobe. The sensitive hollow of
her neck sizzled with a touch that tempted and teased without giving her what
she really wanted: his mouth against her skin and his hands beneath her
shirt.